Authors: Joya Ryan
Grace
waved us off and, taking Simon’s hand, I looked forward to the next few hours with my sweet little prince. Because after that, I’d have to stop by my mother’s apartment and find out what the hell was going on.
~
I dropped off Simon. Unfortunately, we had cut the zoo trip short when Simon complained about his tummy hurting. He didn’t have a fever but he’d eaten pizza before I picked him up. Simon was lactose intolerant. Nothing serious, but it made him uncomfortable.
Driving north and finally getting inside Chicago city limits, I
pulled up at my mother’s apartment complex. Her car wasn’t there, but a big SOLD sign was plastered to the side of her building.
In fact, t
he entire block of low-income apartments wore the same banner:
Purchased by Kinkade Enterprises.
“
No. Frickin. Way.”
Stepping
on the gas, I drove with such furious intent that my vision blurred. It was four o’clock on a Friday evening. With only an hour before I had to be at work, I sped toward the one person I wanted to see…and demand answers from.
My idea had been to burst into Adam’s office and demand to know why he’d bought out an entire block of apartment complexes, one of which housed my mother. But the Kinkade building was massive and security was tight. The front desk had to call up to another desk, which had to call Mr. Kinkade’s executive assistant which eventually led me to be escorted up to the 40
th
floor and private office of Adam Kinkade.
Okay, so my dramatic entrance didn
’t pan out the way I had originally planned. But I was still fueled with anger so I slammed through his door and stomped in. The breath momentarily left me. He was sitting, cool and calm, behind a large desk with the skyline of Chicago as a backdrop, seeping with soul-shaking power.
He didn
’t appear shocked or even annoyed. Granted, the fourteen calls from security to warn him of my impending wrath might have tipped him off.
“
You can’t just—”
“
Enough.” He put his hand up and stood, pushing his chair backward. A painful gulp stuck to my esophagus. Now he was pissed and I hadn’t even said a whole sentence.
He rounded
the desk and stalked toward me. He wasn’t wearing his jacket. His dark blue vest and pants looked like the ocean at midnight and did crazy things for the color of his eyes. A long-sleeved white shirt and black tie completed the look. He stood before me, smelling like amazing cologne and money. The force of his presence hit me hard.
He was
gorgeous. His perfectly combed black hair made me want to plunge my fingers through it and mess it up like I had the night at the restaurant. His face was like chiseled stone, and though he looked irritated, he was still starkly beautiful. His light blue eyes were such a dramatic contrast to his dark features it was breathtaking.
He looked me in the eye. Heat radiated from his body and surrounded mine
. He wasn’t a man, he was a force of nature. A smart girl would be afraid, at the very least cautious. But once again, when it came to this man, the only thing I felt was anticipation.
“
Don’t you dare open your mouth and attempt to tell me what I can and cannot do while you stand in
my
office.” His gaze drifted from my mouth to my hips and back again. Since I hadn’t lectured today, I was in a pair of jeans and a sweater, and probably smelled like the zoo. What did he think of me? Casual and unkempt? If he thought
anything
, his expression didn’t show it.
Everywhere his gaze hit,
heated me from the inside out. It was thrilling. How could a single look make me feel sexy? A sudden empty feeling overwhelmed me. I took a deep breath and tried to squeeze my thighs together without being too obvious. My clit pulsed and I wondered if this kind of reaction to a man was normal. Normal or not, the truth was that Adam Kinkade affected me, and I had the wet panties to prove it.
“
We play by my rules in here, Katelyn.” He reached behind me and locked his office door. “Kneel.”
“
What?” I snapped. “There’s no way—”
“
You obviously came here to discuss something with me. But you’ve offended me. My time is valuable. You want me to listen? Then you’ll speak on your knees.”
My heart pumped double time and
that ache between my legs throbbed harder at the way those words rolled off his tongue, smooth like molasses with a sharp bite of cayenne. I was compelled to obey—wanted to. The need that shot through me then was clear. Pure, raw lust. It rushed beneath my skin so acutely it through off my balance.
I
went down on my knees.
“
Good girl.” He circled me slowly.
He was making it clear that m
y control didn’t apply here. I was on his turf. At his mercy. His to do with as he wanted. He decided how to treat me.
I
should have felt frantic. Submit to someone else’s control? Never. But kneeling before him, I almost felt like a burden had been lifted, and my anxiety was replaced with anticipation. I felt vulnerable, but safe. Adam was a conundrum I couldn’t quite figure out. Neither did I understand how he managed to push my limits without frightening me. There I was, on my knees, yet I felt a sense of power that was not my own. It was his, and I was feeding from it.
What would he do? Make me do? The thought didn
’t terrify me, it excited me. And I was so turned on my body was nearly shaking.
How did he do
it? I ran from everyone else…everything else that even threatened my tightly tethered sense of balance. And if I couldn’t run, I fought. Control over my sanity was the only thing worth clinging to. The only proof I had that showed I was still okay. That I was not sick like my mother. And Adam pulled at it as though it were something tangible. I was losing the fight. Giving in…letting him take over.
“
The time for games is over, Katelyn. I’ve given you ample opportunity to accede to my wishes, yet you defy me at every turn.”
“
Are you high? You can’t just demand things from people and expect them to do what you want.”
He
went down on his haunches and looked me straight in the eye. “I expect a straight answer. I have been honest with you about what I want. You have not told me no, merely strung me along.”
There was no way anyone could
string this man along. He was too grounded and wore his commanding presence like a layer of lotion. Power was a part of chemical makeup.
No. Stringing Adam Kinkade on was not possible.
The fact that this was his interpretation baffled me. “I don’t know what I want. I just know what a wise versus unwise decision looks like.”
“
You want me.”
My eyes widened
.
“
Don’t you?”
I nodded.
“Answer me.”
“
Yes.” My voice trembled on the words. “Yes, I want you.”
He trailed his fingertip over my bot
tom lip. “Now we’re getting somewhere. So you want me, yet you think being with me is unwise.”
“
Yes.”
“
Why?”
Because you
’re beyond anything I know how to deal with. Because I’m excited and afraid to have a taste of you and be left wanting more. Because I already have a fascination that borders on obsession. Because no one will ever have the power to hurt me again.
Instead, I went with
,
“Lots of reasons.”
He looked at me for a long time. Finally
, he rose. He began to walk around me, pausing to lift a lock of my long hair and examine it.
“
I’ve never seen a color like this.”
“
Red?”
He scoffed.
“
Red
is too tame a word.” He dropped the tendril. His fingertips trail across the back of my neck. “And your skin is like a pearl. Polished. Radiant. Combined with those emerald eyes, I’d think you some kind of treasure chest of wealth.”
My
breath stilled and my lungs burned from lack of air. His words startled me. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. Growing up next to Megan, a tall, thin blonde, I was typically noticed by how I stood out in the awkward ways. Somehow, Adam Kinkade, a mogul who spent time with supermodels, had just made me feel beautiful.
“
You don’t like that I see you?”
“
I didn’t say that.”
“
You tensed up.”
My eyes squeezed
shut of their own accord. As if telling me that sensory overload was approaching. I shook my head, trying to gain composure. I had come here for a reason. Instead of focusing on that, I was getting sucked in again. I needed my anger. My irritation. And I needed to unleash it on him.
“
Stop hovering over me and inspecting me. I’m not some
thing
you can obtain.”
“
I disagree.”
My gazed snapped to his.
“Fuck you.”
He
wrapped my hair around his fist and gently pulled. “In time, sweetheart.”
Holding my hair, he faced me so I could look up at him. I felt his power over me.
His stare trailed down my body. Could he see how hard my nipples were and the goose bumps on my skin?
“
You like this,” he rasped. It was a statement, not a question. Adam was very clear on the effect he had on me. “I’m learning quickly, Katelyn. How you behave and how your moods change. Whatever it is you’re hiding that is making you run from me—” He pulled a little harder and I gasped. The tiny flare of pain pricked from my scalp all the way to the tips of my breasts, hardening the little peaks even more. “—I’m going to break you of that.”
He faced me fully and cup
ped my chin. My whole body was vibrating like a drumroll, begging for this man’s attention, any way he wanted to give it. For some reason, I felt the need to earn it. My mind and body were at odds—fighting the very things I wanted so desperately.
Acceptance.
Belonging.
Control.
Adam Kinkade.
I was
eye level with his cock, which was hard and straining against his dark blue slacks. What would it feel like in my hand? What would it taste like? Like pulling thoughts straight from my mind, he unzipped his pants. My eyes were riveted to the action.
“
You kneel there, licking your lips and staring down my cock. It gives a man ideas.”
I nodded, still enthralled with watch
ing him. Aside from some brief encounters with photos and Cinemax, I had never seen a penis up close. When he parted the fly on his pants, I saw his erection strain against his gray boxer briefs. The crown was bulging well above the elastic waistband.
Holy G
od, the man was huge.
“
You want this?” He reached into his boxers and gripped himself.
“
Yes.” And I did. So bad.
He pulled himself completely free. Gripping his massive length in one hand, he fisted my hair in the other.
“I can be a very agreeable man, Katelyn. But I always acquiesce to the word
no
. Say it, and all this will end.”
He stood still. I knew he was waiting to s
ee if I’d say it. But I wouldn’t.
Because
I didn’t want this to end.
I
had no idea what I was doing. Going from never seeing a penis, to touching it—let alone putting one in my mouth—was a big jump. But I wanted it. Wanted him.
He guided his shaft to my
lips, coaxing me to open. I did. He rubbed the tip along my tongue. His eyes smoldered like blue embers. Deciding to test my nerve, I snaked my tongue along the slit. He groaned.
“
We will happen, Katelyn, but I’m not above working for it.”
He wanted to work for
me? That made me want to preen. In that moment, I was on my knees, his dominance taking me over, yet I felt more in control than I had in years. Because
he
wanted
me
.
Confidence reinforced,
I licked the crown, then glanced up at him to gauge his reaction. Could he tell I had never done this? I hoped not. His gaze bore down on me with savage lust. I closed my mouth over the tip and gently sucked.
He seemed to like that.
His hand tightened in my hair. “Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”
I
released him from my mouth and looked up at him. “The apartments off Highway Ninety.” He tilted his hips, his hard penis prodding my lips. This was to be a multi-tasking situation. I sucked the head again, but this time I twirled my tongue on the underside before releasing him, and rained wet flicks of my tongue from root to tip. “You bought them. What will you do with them?”